Complaints vs Google, Facebook under new European Union law

GDPR has scuppered its first big

Nellie Chapman
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25 May, 2018, 21:35

Among the inevitable deluge of emails sent by companies desperate to be seen to be doing the bare minimum in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that came into effect in Europe today, have been those requesting blanket opt-ins. It will impact on the way businesses handle data related to recruitment activities, and the information they store relating to employees. Individuals also have the right to access data accumulated by companies and can ask that their data be transferred to another service provider or company.

Codility is committed to helping hiring teams carry out their tech recruiting efficiently, effectively, and compliantly.

Major technology companies have said that they are ready to comply with the GDPR rules. On Thursday, Facebook said it plans to insert alerts in the news feeds of more than 2 billion users in the coming weeks, giving them a series of choices, including whether they want Facebook to use face recognition on their photos and whether the company can use information collected about them from advertisers.

But for some companies, the expense of making sure they comply with the new rules was simply too much.

The companies are accused of forcing users to consent to targeted advertising to use the services. The opposite feeling spread on the screens of many users: tons of "consent boxes" popped up online or in applications, often combined with a threat, that the service can not longer be used if user do [es] not consent.

There are six legal bases for using personal data, including getting express consent from consumers.

The company compared GDPR to previous efforts by less liberal polities, including Russian Federation and China, to enforce national laws on global companies.

Last month, Facebook chief financial officer Dave Wehner said he expected Facebook's European user base to flatline or even decline after the GDPR comes into effect.

Part of the challenge is that while GDPR does hold fintech firms that misuse or fail to protect customer data provided by the banks financially liable, it's the lender - who is powerless to police the data once it's handed over - who would likely bear the brunt of bad press in the public's eyes, Lokke Moerel, a data-protection lawyer at Morrison & Foerster LLP, said in an interview.

Any company, big or small, that operates in the European Union and collects user data must comply with the new law.

Other services, like reading app Instapaper, movie and TV review app Stardust, and inbox-declutterer Unroll.me, have shut down access to European Union customers and sometimes even erased their accounts. Google and Facebook, which previous year captured more than 80 per cent of the growth in digital advertising, "are surely going to be on everyone's list", Mr. Martin said.

The right to restrict processing: If an organization cannot delete a data subjects' data-for example, because they need it for legal case-then they can request that the company limit how it's used.